This past week I have been showing my Aunt from America the tourist 'hot spots of the North west of England. The weather, although not the nicest May weather we have experienced has been fairly good to us and not rained on our days out.
Tatton Park in Cheshire was one of our first visits , we looked around the house but first took a stroll in the gardens , stopping to admire the beautiful Rhododendron which are at their best right now. My favourite part of the gardens has to be the Japanese Water garden it is just so scenic and so tranquil.
The other few photos are of our time around York. We had two packed days there and enjoyed every moment.

Last Saturday we went into an English haven, a Bluebell Wood! A sea of blue carpeted the ground and the air was softly fragranced by wonderful woodlands scents, insects hovered and birds sang from the treetops. It really was quite magical to walk through on that lovely spring afternoon in the sunshine. We were out on the boat,coming back from a little trip up to Garstang...the new Booths there is coming along nicely] and as I had my camera with me I took a few snaps along the way.

As you can see the canoeists were also making the most of the lovely day too.

A sunny April day and the sight of these lovely Tulips had me out in the garden with the camera trying to capture some of their beauty before they start to fade. Everybody who saw them could not believe that they were tulips as they were so full of petals.
Then with the camera set to' super macro' I was able to see how intricate the pink one was on the inside too.
The lovely warm days have seen the spring flowers finish earlier this year but it was a small price to pay for the enjoyment of nice weather and the lilac bush is now in full bloom and the azaleas are nearly out too.

Easter Greetings

Easter greeting to you all. I hope you have had a peaceful one and enjoyed the really lovely weather we have been rewarded with this time around.
It has made the spring flowers look the best they have been for a very long time and my Tulips this year are gorgeous, with so many lovely shades coming into flower at once. I went out with the camera just after a light shower the other day and took these photos.
Things in the greenhouse are sprouting and and shooting up at a mad rate now and I am kept busy pricking out the seedlings and still sowing and picking up bargains where I can.

The Blackbirds have a nest again in the garden somewhere because they are collecting mouthfuls of worms from the lawn all day and trying to pinch bits off the cats plates if they leave any meat behind. They have even been cheeky enough to venture into the kitchen and see whats there.I am dreading them all emerging from the nests as with all our cats about I will be on alert !
The Heron was again seen in the garden at the back.. there is something there he likes!
We have spent the easter break doing a few jobs around the garden but also managed to get out on our boat on the lancaster canal which was lovely in the spring sunshine.

Heron landing and dazzling daffodils

I saw the Heron flying over the house at 8.30am, he often does on his way to a favourite spot but I was taken by surprise when he returned later on to land in the conifer in the garden that backs on to ours. My camera was in the other room so I flew for it ,not really with much hope that he would still be there but yes he was! They may have installed a pond recently as something had caught his eye. He was off pretty quick though after this photo.

Yesterday we called at Sefton park in Liverpool to view thousands of daffodils in the Field of hope. The Sun was shining and it made for a glorious sight.

The seeds in the greenhouse are sprouting rapidly and there is plenty to do,I am hoping though that this week will be warmer than last.

Saw a Goldfinch on the Birch tree in the front garden this morning, I hope they are building a nest close by as we do not see many around here.

Greenhouse

Well here it is, the greenhouse which we may not have bought if we knew exactly how much time and effort it was going to require in getting it together! However I love it and there is so much more space and even enough room for a chair!
There are still some flags to lay around the edges but that can be done in odd moments. I now have to get really busy ordering plug plants and sowing and preparing containers.

So we are in for a cold week again, back to jumpers for a while. It was lovely to see some sun and I managed to get out for a day to Martin mere with friends and took some pictures and we also had a lovely day out on the boat last Sunday.

Lawns should be lovely

I admit defeat with our lawn! It's covered in moss and looks sick. Poor lawn..... it was really lovely at one point, many years ago and I want it to look like that again.
If I was to pinpoint when exactly it started on the road to ruin it would be when we stopped using the big old petrol lawnmower with the heavy roller on the back. In those days it looked green and healthy and sported beautiful stripes all summer long.

These new lawnmowers are not a patch on the old sort but it's not just that, we have been neglectful ,doing only the bare minimum to help it, as other things like boats and work got in the way.
So I've called in the heavy mob and a professional is coming to see what he can do, at the right price of course .
A groundsman would tell you that one of the most important things is to spike it with a four-tined garden fork to a depth of four to six inches ,as it is lack of air to the topsoil and good water peculation to the root sphere that makes a good lawn. So that should take me all day then!

I went out in the Greenhouse as it was raining ,not heavy just drizzly but it was nice to be in the dry potting on some bits and bobs and snipping and trimming and watering to give things a boost for spring!